To celebrate, I thought I’d run a special on this book I released on August 31st. You may have heard of it–Dusk of Death: an Armen Leza, Demon Hunter novel. It’s a fun little supernatural thriller I wrote, containing some of my favorite characters. Dusk of Death is the first of a trilogy, but there will also be three side novellas and one other novella that shares the same world.

For the entire weekend of Halloween, Dusk of Death will be $0.99 and then slowly creep back up to its original price throughout the week. If you haven’t grabbed a copy yet, starting October 29th is a good time to do so. It will also be featured on a few sites, so if you get those crazy discounted books emails, you should see it in there. If not, take a look below and click on the cover:

Dusk of Death

Demons, detectives, and a forensic scientist who has fallen from Hell.Hell wants her back.

Let the demon hunt begin.

When Armen Leza fell from Hell, demon hunting was the last thing on her mind, but when all Hell breaks loose, this Fallen is humankind’s only hope for salvation.

Armen feels alone in her flesh. She can hear things unheard by humans, scent out the gut-churning stench of evil, and see the shades that lurk in the shadows, but if there is one thing she knows for certain, it’s that demons lie.

When her past keeps rearing its ugly head, Armen and Phoenix P.D. Detective Terry Armstrong must face an apocalyptic event that will throw this world into the Darkness forever, leaving the fate of all humanity in the hands of the malevolent. Getting the truth out of demons can be murder, and Armen must do so before they succeed in extinguishing the Light.

If you’ve joined my newsletter, where I’ve also announced this spectacular sale, there’s a special preview of Book II’s cover because yes, I designed it last Sunday. I was on the NaNoWriMo site adding the book I’d be working on next month, and they asked for a cover. Next thing I knew, I’d spent the next few hours looking for the perfect image and started working in PhotoShop. I had it completed before I went to bed that night. I know. Squirrel much? By that time, I was questioning who in the bloody hell would already have a cover for a book they haven’t written yet. Well, apparently someone like ADHD me when the opportunity to create one suddenly presents itself.

I’ll be working on Act of Atonement during NaNoWriMo, since I’ve been plotting it out in Scrivener, and have spontaneously created the cover. *gasp* I know! Me, plotting a book! Hell must be freezing over, but I can assure you it’s not as it is ninety-fucking-five degrees here.

I am ecstatic to announce that Dusk of Death: an Armen Leza, Demon Hunter novel is available now on Amazon and the print will be available very soon!

If you’re so inclined, you may also join the Facebook event today. Celebrate! Win awesome prizes, one of which is a Kindle Fire! Have fun! Check out the deets HERE. I’d love to see you there!

On Sale Now

Dusk of Death

Demons, detectives, and a forensic scientist who has fallen from Hell.Hell wants her back.

Let the demon hunt begin.

When Armen Leza fell from Hell, demon hunting was the last thing on her mind, but when all Hell breaks loose, this Fallen is humankind’s only hope for salvation.

Armen feels alone in her flesh. She can hear things unheard by humans, scent out the gut-churning stench of evil, and see the shades that lurk in the shadows, but if there is one thing she knows for certain, it’s that demons lie.

When her past keeps rearing its ugly head, Armen and Phoenix P.D. Detective Terry Armstrong must face an apocalyptic event that will throw this world into the Darkness forever, leaving the fate of all humanity in the hands of the malevolent. Getting the truth out of demons can be murder, and Armen must do so before they succeed in extinguishing the Light.

*whispers* If you haven’t seen that movie yet, do it!

Okay, so…..I can’t believe it’s finally here and yet, I’m just now getting around to the damn post on my blog because that’s how busy August is for me! Have I mentioned the day job? I’m pretty sure I have. Something to do with a school district and technology. Nothing too important aside from it being the largest school district in the state and nearly 70K students. No big. *shrugs* New servers. Missing data. Expired/forgotten passwords. New software. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

So, of course, I somehow thought it would be a brilliant idea to release a book at month’s end.

Because why the fuck not. Right? We all learn lessons in our own special ways. I have henceforth blocked out mid-July through mid-September for any and all publishing/freelance activities indefinitely…..or at least until I’ve left the district, whenever that will be.

I have spent the past several months prepping Dusk of Death for release. Only problem was that I hadn’t locked down an actual release date until early July, which of course, is exactly when the roof blew up at work, RIGHT AFTER I SET THE DATE. I’m not even going to go into the insanity involved at work because it’s already punched my stress levels to their limits and has given me several migraines.

Dusk of Death is up for pre-sale now on Amazon and I’m putting the print together, which probably won’t be ready for release date, but it’ll be available not long thereafter.

If you’re so inclined, you may also join the Facebook event on release day. Celebrate! Win awesome prizes! Have fun! Check out the deets HERE.

August 31st, bitches!

Demons, detectives, and a forensic scientist who has fallen from Hell. Hell wants her back. Let the demon hunt begin.

When Armen Leza fell from Hell, demon hunting was the last thing on her mind, but when all Hell breaks loose, this Fallen is humankind’s only hope for salvation.

Armen feels alone in her flesh. She can hear things unheard by humans, scent out the gut-churning stench of evil, and see the shades that lurk in the shadows, but if there is one thing she knows for certain, it’s that demons lie.

When her past keeps rearing its ugly head, Armen and Phoenix P.D. Detective Terry Armstrong must face an apocalyptic event that will throw this world into the Darkness forever, leaving the fate of all humanity in the hands of the malevolent. Getting the truth out of demons can be murder, and Armen must do so before they succeed in extinguishing the Light.

I probably should have written this post immediately after our return, but exhaustion took over and I desperately needed a vacation from my vacation. Plus, a lot has been happening in our lives, so I really haven’t had time or energy to write much. Hell, my newsletter hasn’t had anything go out since March. Yes, I am *that* behind.

I’d also like to preface this by saying that this is the first vacation I’ve taken that didn’t involve any kind of work whatsoever in ages. I mean, it’s been so fucking long that I can’t even recall how many years have passed. That shit is just unacceptable.

I think I’ll just mostly show you in pictures what our trip was like. BTW, Florida was absolutely gorgeous while we were there. An all-day thunderstorm hit the day after we arrived and it was glorious. Also, I am not allergic to the state….for the most part.

The main reason we were even heading to Florida was because one of my oldest and dearest friends, MrsLoki, was getting married to the love of her life. Finally. Let me emphasize that….FINALLY. Anyway, it was a beautiful wedding and I was happy to be there for her. Our friend D was gracious enough to share her suite with us, and we had a blast the entire weekend.

And we’re off…

First, let me show you the amazing suite we had at Mystic Dunes resort. It was a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite with a full kitchen. That second image was my bathroom and it was glorious. We had an amazing view of one of the golf courses from the patio in back, and a view of one of several pools from the front door.

(Click on the thumbnails to view larger images)

Next, the wedding. And yes, the groom arrived in a helicopter, walking off like he was Tony Stark. Perfect. First image is from the Bachelorette party, of course. After that, we went to see Captain America: Civil War because duh. Of course, the day before this blessed event, we spent the day crossing Hogwarts off of Umi’s Bucket List.

Now, on to Hogwarts and Umi’s incredible 70th birthday!

Hogwarts, OMG!!!

There’s a lot going on here, but basically this was our walk through the park, starting with the sign Umi put on the front of her cart. We’d gotten her a cart at the park and she rode around on that thing wearing her hat and her birthday pin so every employee who saw her would say, “Happy Birthday!” To which she would respond by whipping her head around, plastering a big smile on her face, and say, “Thank you!” BTW, yes, she did try to run people over a few times.

Had to get this shot. It *was* her 70th bday after all

For Umi’s birthday dinner, I made stuffed tilapia and roasted asparagus. We had Red Velvet cake and wine for dessert, and Umi had a wonderful birthday.

Saturday night, D and I were up until 4 a.m. talking on the patio, which gave us about four hours to sleep as checkout was at 10 a.m.

I’m not even going to talk about Orlando’s airport because I’ll just get pissed off all over again and I don’t need that kind of negativity right now.

So my dearest friend and soul sister, Kitty, decided to turn her playlist into a poem today. I have to admit, it’s pretty stunning. Thusly, I have been challenged, along with the tagged group of fine writerly types. So here goes.

We can Twitter ’til we flitter and Facebook ’til we face plant and that won’t matter much in the greater scheme of things if we fail at our single most important job—writing a great book. Our single greatest challenge is to hook the reader hard enough to buy (and then read) our novel.

Sales ultimately are impacted by reviews and if no one reads and no one finishes?

Exactly.

Yes, covers are important and social media is vital, but those sample pages can mean the difference in No Sale and Big Hit.

One writing book every writer should have is Hooked by Les Edgerton. I think this was the first craft book that truly woke me up and showed me all I really didn’t know about writing.

As a new author, there were far too many elements I believed were important when in reality? Not so much. Additionally, because I…

One of the things about working full time at my age with everything I have to deal with on a health level on top of Umi’s health crises is that trying to promote anything regarding my books is daunting. It doesn’t help that I’ve been on medications that affect the way I think for so long that I’m starting to wonder who the hell I am anymore. I can hardly make time to write, let alone do anything else to push them forward. If I want more time to write, I get 5-6 hours sleep, maybe less. If I want to sleep and feel better, I lose writing time. If I could have even a 36-hour day, I’d be happy because I could get shit done.

The 36-hour day thing is a lie, though. We all know we’d just find more time to procrastinate, play video games, run errands (which I loathe at this stage of my life). Then you think, “Well, if I could make the same amount of money without working as many hours….” but in truth, if you’re anything like me, you’d just find more work to do that isn’t what you need/want it to be. It’s a mindset thing, really. I can’t seem to get my mind used to the idea that my writing is THE job and the IT shit is the hobby. It might have something to do with my paychecks.

Health-wise, there are a million things wrong with me, but hey, none of it is trying to kill me at this present time, so if I could just push past the fatigue and brain fog, and piercing headaches, I could actually get shit done. Right now, all I’m getting done is shit at the day job, or shit that people send to me with money attached because I do things for money. Not those things. THESE things. I started working out again, waking up at 5:00 A.M. because I’m apparently insane. Doc is slowly working me off one of three meds that affect how my brain works, or doesn’t, really; I’m just hoping the hellish pain of the pinched nerve doesn’t return with it. By the way, I started this post a while back. Hell, there’s a fifth installment of The Secret Life of Jinxie G that’s been sitting in draft since February. That’s how tired I am. I get home, get comfy (if I don’t have to go to the store or take Umi to a doctor appointment or do anything else outside the house), and veg out in front of my TV for the next few hours before bed, making dinner at some point in between, because by this point I. Am. Exhausted.

*collapses*

*sits up again*

I keep telling myself to STFU, stop making excuses, and get the shit done. Then my body laughs at me and I realize that I’m really not making excuses 99% of the time. Okay, maybe 90% of the time. But still….

Know what else causes the exhaustion? Allergies. My body is fighting off everything outside right now, so having to even set foot out my front door means either hives or not breathing, and I kind of like breathing. Working with people who insist on leaving a fucking door open regardless of what I say because “It’s so nice outside” does not help me in the breathing department. I’m having trouble breathing now, and I have a headache. Both signs of the allergens outside kicking my ass.

Last week, Umi and I took off to Florida for a couple of adventures. The first was to cross Hogwarts off Umi’s Bucket List. We had a blast. I’ll write up a separate post for that.

The second reason we were in Florida was because my BFF from high school got married! Seriously, I’m writing that post soon because the groom’s entrance was thunderous.

My point for telling you about the vacation is that when we returned home, I needed a vacation from my vacation. I tried to wake up at 5am to work out….no go. So I’ve decided I’ll start that routine again next week. I’m still pretty fucking tired like I’ve been all week long. I’m starting to think it’s just being in this state with the allergy attack going full throttle, and I don’t know what to fucking do about it….except sleep.

It’s all just extremely frustrating because while I can vomit a few paragraphs onto a blog post here or there (which has been pretty fucking sporadic lately), writing or editing my own work (books) is difficult to do at home, after work, or even on the weekends because I so very fucking tired (that typo proves it). I’m not even going to go into the arthritis in my hands and elsewhere as of late.

*head desk*

Something needs to change. I just don’t know what it is yet. Well, I might have an idea….